Does anyone own a Triumph scrambler?

[carnie_sf]

I love the look of these bikes and would be very interested in hearing how people who have one like them.

[Ganja Ninja]

1. I have one of the new Bonneville's.

It's been nice and it's been reliable even though I haven't put many miles on it. The Scrambler is pretty close to the bonny. If you're planning on doing some real hardcore off roading with a Scrambler it's not recommended. They don't have the ground clearance like a dedicated dirt bike. The Scrambler is better used for un-improved dirt roads and pavement riding.

<a href="http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd73/Trilbilly/?action=view¤t=IMG_0056-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. I'm surprised at the resemblance to a 1968 Bonneville

which I no longer have.

The apparent differences: your new one has turn signals and disk brakes. The old one had a kick-start lever and a Zener Diode (a primitive form of voltage regulator for the charging system) in a big finned heat-sink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zener_diode

A fun bike to ride, great handling in the turns.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. People recognize it as a Triumph right away.

I'm always asked "What year is that Triumph?" When I tell them it's a 2006 They always respond with "When did they start making them again?" I very rarely see another Triumph of any kind on the road. It's nice to ride something a little out of the ordinary.

[ThomWV]

4. This is the thing about the Zener Diode ...

I hadn't thought about one of those things in a while, the good old Zener Diode.

Here is how it worked, the Zener Diode was actually just a little thing that screwed into a big finned holder that would dissipate the heat generated when the bikes were overcharging. The system was basically unregulated other than the diode so if the thing went bad the voltage in the system just got higher and higher as engine speed went up. When one was working things were good but here was the problem. When the diode was installed in the cooling-fin-holder you had to torque them down to 1.5 ft/lbs or risk damaging the diode. Problem was that if you torqued them down one ounce tighter than that they would self destruct immediately, frying your battery and blowing out bulbs all over the place because of the overcharging. However if you bought the appropriate wrench and were meticulous about getting it torqued exactly right they would only last about 10 minutes anyway.

[Enthusiast]

5. Check out this 188 page thread on

The Adventure Rider's Forum on the Scrambler.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141616